Spring cleaning the body and mind

Spring is the time for renewal and freshness, and spring cleaning is in order, not just in our houses, but our body homes too. Our bodies are programed by evolution to sense the awakening of spring, so spring is already affecting your whole system. Here are some ways you can assist your body and mind in the spring cleaning process to help you renew and refresh. I do them every spring traditionally.

Movement

I know I spent the whole winter moving with lots and lots of skiing and shoveling, but it is natural to spend the winter in hibernation. In spring, nature starts to move again, and we should too. Get outside and move your body, allow the sun to warm you and the stimulus of sunlight activates rhythms via the pineal gland and hypothalamus in the brain. Rebalance your energy with movement. In the spring our metabolism shifts and energy supplies are sent to the more active areas of the body like the muscles, so this is a good time to devote yourself to exercise.

Play

Spring moves us out of a season of darkness into spring fever. Looking inward, a lightness of mind translates to a lightness in the body, too. Whatever is “heavy” in your life should be addressed. Find ways to play, laugh, and smile. Revive your lightness of being. I try to ask myself often, “how can I make this more fun?” whatever I am doing.

Detox

The dead remnants of winter are swept away in the spring, so everything can become fresh again. A lot of us spring clean our yards and homes, but how about our bodies? Making way for fresh new things involves cleaning out the accumulation of toxins.There are natural things you can do to aid your body’s own detox mechanisms. Get good sleep so your body can clean out the debris at night, and reduce inflammation.

In addition of detoxing the body, it is also good to DETOX THE MIND. Mental toxins consist of old memories, traumas, and conditioning that have thrown you into undesirable attitudes, habits and beliefs. These result in constricted awareness and contraction. Healing happens when you can expand your awareness. Don’t waste too much of your time in fear, resentment, depression, victimization and self-defense. Allow yourself to let go, relax and release all the negativity. We have the ability to carry all sorts of emotions, feelings and experiences that are damaging. Things like resentment, past hurt, regret, anger and sadness. Cleaning this emotional debris is one of the greatest ways to bring positive change into your life. Here are some ways to clear your internal clutter, although not easy are so worth their weight in GOLD.

-Confront your problems head-on early, before they get any bigger.

-Let go of control and attachment to the outcome. Somebody close to me loves to remind me of this quote “indifference is the differences that makes the difference”.

-Forgive, not for somebody else, but because of the enormous amount of release you will feel when you practice this ultimate act of self love.

-Stop worrying, most of the stuff we worry about never happen. Put that energy into what is right with your world and stop focusing on what is wrong with it.

-Change the stories you are telling yourself to cultivate positive energy. Keep a positive perspective and tone when recapping the day, regardless of what happened, instead of perpetuating the negative.

-Pay attention to your internal chatter. Interrupt and clear out negative thoughts as soon as they enter your mind, the power of positive thinking can have an enormous impact on your life. Pay attention to the thoughts you choose to see if the beliefs you currently have are serving you. Check out this post on ways to turn around negative thought patterns.